Last year, my lovely friend Mandy gifted me a copy of Rachel Joyce’s new novel, Miss Benson’s Beetle. I had read and enjoyed Joyce’s first book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, so I was delighted to have the chance to read her latest work.
From the blurb:
“It is 1950. In a devastating moment of clarity, Margery Benson abandons her dead-end job and advertises for an assistant to accompany her on an expedition. She is going to travel to the other side of the world to search for a beetle that may or may not exist. Enid Pretty, in her unlikely pink travel suit, is not the companion Margery had in mind. And yet together they will be drawn into an adventure that will exceed every expectation. They will risk everything, break all the rules, and at the top of a red mountain, discover their best selves.
This is a story that is less about what can be found than the belief it might be found; it is an intoxicating adventure story but it is also about what it means to be a woman and a tender exploration of a friendship that defies all boundaries.”
This is a book that grips the reader right from the outset. The first few pages are so compelling and set up beautifully the rest of the novel. Margery’s natural zest for life bursts out of the opening sentence: “When Margery was ten, she fell in love with a beetle.” We understand completely how the compass of her universe is totally shaped by her father: “‘I have begun to feel comforted.’ he said, ‘by the thought of all we do now know, which is nearly everything.’ With that upside-down piece of wisdom, he turned another page. ‘Ah!’ He pointed at a speck. A beetle.”
Within a few more pages, however, we find that lively Margery has become disappointed Miss Benson. Our hearts lurch over the turn her life has taken. Can she finally save herself by channeling her long-held desire to find an illusive beetle on the other side of the world?
When I reached the end of this wonderful book, my first thought was that it felt like a kind of ‘girl’s own adventure’. I had been holding off listening to interviews with Joyce until I had read the book and, in the first podcast I played, I heard her describe her wish to write an adventure for girls! She was keen to write a book about relationships between women and so there are only a few male characters throughout the narrative, but these are mostly seen through the perspective of their place in the lives of the main female. The one exception to this is Mundic, a former POW, held in Burma during WWII, whose story is separate from, but interwoven with that of Margery and, in due course, her unlikely ‘friend’ Enid. It was initially difficult to see why he had been included. But I came to think of him as symbolic of people who get lost in and by society, and who become paralysed by their experiences and circumstances. This contrasts starkly with Margery and Enid’s personal journeys and Joyce’s examination of how people can be made or broken by their own choices and by life’s chance.
Joyce’s narrative style is deceptively light and amusing. Buried in all the capers is a deep understanding of human nature. She explores and exposes the problems caused by hasty judgements, fixed beliefs and a lack of kindness. The book is full of ‘ah-ha’ moments, which are all the more powerful for their quiet emergence.
I absolutely loved this book for all its warmth and power (thank you Mandy! 💚) and I will definitely be looking back at the novels by Joyce that I have not yet read. 😀
This sounds delightful and I love that you resisted the I reviewed and tapped intuitively into the intention of the author or creating a girl’s adventure. Rachel Joyce has a unique skill in drawing the reader in early on, so I can imagine that reading this must have been a pure joy. It’s always good too to take note of uplifting fiction.
I enjoyed the insights you came too in your review as well, you’ve certainly made me wish to add this to the TBR.
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Thank you Claire, I really appreciate your comments. I hope you enjoy the book if it ever makes it to the top of your TBR!!
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You have made this book sound most enticing, Liz. I will add it to my ever growing (thanks to your reviews) list.
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Hi Mum, thanks for this. I think you would really enjoy this one xxx
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Good review. I love her books & got this on Net Galley then life happened. I must get to it! It sounds so good.
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Thanks so much! And I know exactly what you mean – my NetGalley list is a shocker at the moment…. 😱
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I really enjoyed this novel. My favourite of the Rachel Joyce books I have read, she can be a little sentimental. The friendship depicted in this novel though is wonderful.
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I agree – the development of the relationship between Margery and Enid is brilliantly handled.
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You’ve written an excellent review, Liz, and I’m so excited to learn of Rachel Joyce’s new book! I loved The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Miss Benson’s Beetle goes on the TBR posthaste!!
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I’m so pleased that this tempts you, Liz. I hope you enjoy it if it ever reaches the top of your TBR pile!
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So many books, so little time . . .
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Absolutely! 😩🤣
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I didn’t read her other book but this os one that I would like to start with, thanks to your review. Why do you always do this to me? I am already poor!
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Sorry (not sorry)!
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